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Synergistic Red Fuse ...

I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...

Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
128x128oregonpapa
audiolover718
132 posts
 
all this talk abou ref-10', I'm feeling like a scrub with my Ls 17. Lol. Posted in the other SR Atmosphere cable  thread. Got the entry level black cords. Breaking in right now. About 24 hours in. Hard and unmusical. I had been using a hombres cord with belden 33803 or something like that, with furutech copper  and gold plate iec's.  The black cord use what appear to be Leviton brass male connectors, this I would think would be a downgrade, but the prof is in e broken in sound..... We shall see!
andynotadam's avatar
andynotadam
169 posts
 
I have two Blacks arriving Monday to replace the Reds in my Primaluna monos. I'm planning on moving the Reds to the plate fuses. I'm not sure that replacing the plate fuses will make any kind of difference, but I have to do something with the Reds as there doesn't seem to be much of an aftermarket for audiophile fuses, except among friends. I'll check back in later next week after I have a chance to cook the new Blacks...
adg101
1,062 posts
 
Just changed out the Reds to Blacks in my Cambridge 851C. I have roughly 72 hours on them and definitely an improvement over the Reds. Playing with direction of the fuses now and one I definitely had in the wrong direction. 

I started with a Black in my ModWright LS 36.5 and because I have two in the Cambridge I thought I'd save a few dollars and start with the Reds there. The Reds were definitely an improvement over the stock fuses but just didn't feel the change was a drastic as the Black in my ModWright. Bought all fuses from VH Audio and of course I was able to send the Reds back for the Blacks which was nice. Anyone thinking of trying the Reds first I wouldn't bother for the price difference honestly. 

Everything has improved across the board but the big thing I can say about these fuses is I find I enjoy listening to the volume down a little now which means my amp is running in Class A more which is nice as well. Too bad my Pass amp doesn't have fuses instead of the circuit breaker switch on the back they use; I suspect it's of decent quality.
tsushima1
1,165 posts
 
"Has anyone tried a SR Red Fuse in a Audio Research Reference 10?"

I have recently sub'd in an Black in place of the incumbent Red that had approx 60 hours on the clock in the Ref10, straight out of the box evolution across the board over the Red.
gpgr4blu
1,082 posts
 
Thinking of Synergistic blacks for my ARC Ref 150 and Ref 40 and I see that there are a number of ARC owners who have installed the Blacks in their gear notwithstanding my 2 concerns.
1-The Ref 40 uses a 6amp fuse and the Ref150 uses a 7amp fuse. The Synergistics make neither so I would presumably have to come up short but as close as possible (a 5 and 6.3, or if I'm adventurous, two 6.3s).
2-I believe both fuses are specified as 250v whereas the Synergistics are 500v.
Not an electrical engineer or even an electrician so I do not generally like ignoring manufacturer's choices unless I know that it can cause no harm (e.g. after market power cords).  
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